The importance of planning your website or project

Important questions to ask, consider and take note, this will also work for reviewing or redesigning a website.

The Questions to ask yourself or your client

Give us your main reasons for commissioning a new website?

In order of importance (most important first) what are the business objectives for your site ? (eg, improving sales rate, increase customer satisfaction, reduce time searching)

What is your measure for success, and what are you hoping to achieve? (ie, 20% increase in sales)

What aspects of your current site work well and why are they successful?

What’s not so great and why do you think that is?

Who’s coming to your site? Describe the different types of visitors to your website in as much detail as possible.

How do you think your audience currently perceives your company and the services you offer?

What do you imagine people using your site for? What will they want to do there?

Why will people choose your site over others?

How do these features support your business goals and the goals of your user?

People are coming to your new site for the first time. How do you want them to feel about your company?

Tell us a bit about your competition. Who are the runners and riders in your field (including their website addresses)?

What works for them? What doesn’t?

Leaving your competitors aside, have you seen any sites recently that you’ve liked the visual design of? What did you like about it?

Conclusion

Working on and implementing just a few of these questions should enable you to create a much better and more successful project or website. Focus on why you are doing the project and what you want to achieve, not just making it pretty or using the latest web development.

Questions taken from the Clear Left “Client Ideas Sheet” clearleft.com